Upcoming Classes & Workshops
Click on class titles for more infoRmation and To register. NYAA CE Online Classes are open to all Adults.
Artist Retreat Workshop at Beach Plum Farm: In-Person
in person - Cape May, Nj - May 5-8
This workshop at the beautiful grounds of Beach Plum Farms will focus on the benefits of doing an underpainting while painting quickly from life. For the sake of speed, which is always a factor when braving the elements and changing light, most artists skip underpaintings while plein air painting. However, a quick underpainting can actually save you time in the long run by solving compositional, tonal, and drawing problems up front, before getting into complex color-mixing and detail. We will discuss how to create a dynamic composition and how to alter what is in front of you to suit your own compositional vision. In our second layers, we will focus on color mixing, how to approach foliage and skies, how to create atmospheric depth, and how to vary our mark-making. This workshop is open to all full-color painting and drawing media, and will include demonstrations on how to apply these concepts to a variety of media. Demonstrations will include oils on top of acrylics, gouache on top of watercolor, and pastels on top of watercolor. If inclement weather prohibits us from working outdoors, we will apply all of the same concepts of two-layer painting from life to bountiful still lives of Plum Farm produce and available views from indoors. Workshop open to Beginner to Advanced artist working in any full color drawing or painting media. Recommended media Combinations: Oils on Acrylics, Acrylics on Acrylics, Gouache on Watercolor, Pastels on Watercolors.
CREATING IMAGINED COLOR IN PAINTING
Online weekend workshop - June 8-9
The ability to paint with invented color allows artists to escape copying the photograph, and to instead transform it into an evocative, painterly world. In this workshop with Elody Gyekis students will create a two-layer painting using imagined color schemes.
On day 1, students will create a monochromatic under-painting using their own photo reference (should have directional lighting). Day 1 will also include a look at artists and works of art that use invented color schemes, and discussion about what color contributes to mood and meaning in painting.
On day 2, students will experiment with different color schemes and apply their favorite combination onto their monochromatic under painting. Students will begin a full color painting on top of their under-painting, and learn techniques to utilize their imaginations while choosing colors. Day 2 will also include discussion of the behaviors of color, light, and reflection in nature to help guide decision-making in the creation of a convincing imaginary environment.
The techniques taught in this workshop can also be used in creating convincing works that combine multiple photographic references into a single scene.
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD LEAF: MIXED MEDIA AND GILDING ON PAPER
online weekend workshop July 20-21 2024
This workshop will be a process-based, playful, and fun weekend of mixed-media drawing experimentation. Students will learn to use wet media on top of dry media and dry on top of wet, layering charcoals, soft pastels, watercolors, and inks. Then learn how to apply gold leaf (or silver leaf, or imitation alternatives) to paper, and explore various approaches for achieving different effects and textures with gilding.
On the first day, students will look at other artists for inspiration, watch a variety of demonstrations, and begin a first layer of at least four different drawings, using a different approach for each. The second day will include more demonstrations, and the addition of further layers and gilding to the drawings. Participants are encouraged to choose a single reference to inspire all of the drawings. Doing multiple iterations of the same image can lower the stakes and encourage freedom of experimentation. The goal of the workshop is to discover a process or combination of media that works well for your artistic sensibilities.
This workshop will be an excuse to finally use those art supplies you
couldn’t resist buying on sale but have not yet used. Some form of dry drawing media (such as charcoals and/or soft pastels) and some form of wet media (watercolors and/or inks), gilding supplies, and heavy paper that can handle layering are all required. Other drawing supplies are also welcome, including iridescent pigments, gouache, colored pencils, markers, pens, paint markers, stamps, acrylic paints, collage supplies, and any other media suitable for use on paper. See detailed supply list for instructions on exactly what to buy if you are new to gilding.
Future CLasses
BOTANICALS I: DIRECT APPROACHES TO PAINTING NATURE
Wednesday Evenings from 6:30-9:30PM Est
Fall Session 1 - September 2024
This class will focus on painting flowers and other botanicals in their natural environment using “direct” painting techniques: mixing our colors carefully and applying the paint with expressive, impasto brushstrokes. During the six classes, Elody Gyekis will discuss color theory, how to create depth and space in a landscape, how to compositionally balance finer detail versus working loosely, and how to work on top of colored grounds and under-paintings.
For inspiration, we will look at the history and development of direct painting in art history, Impressionistic paintings, and various talented contemporary artists.
Students may work in oil or acrylic paint.
Wednesday Evenings from 6:30-9:30PM Est
Fall Session II 2024
This class will focus on painting flowers and other botanicals up-close in all their detailed glory. Botanical subjects give a painter every possible challenge to work with: color, pattern, transparency, volume, and texture. In this class, Elody Gyekis will show you how to approach these complexities using the “Indirect” painting process: building up your painting by working in multiple transparent layers.
These historical painting techniques allow the artist to focus on one problem at a time. We establish our drawing, value structure, temperature, surface colors and details all in separate stages. The final result will be luminous and highly refined. We will also learn about oils and mediums, how to prepare grounds on canvas and panel, and how to prepare your references.
Oil paints are highly recommended for this class, but acrylics can be used instead if preferred.
*Botanical Painting I is NOT required to sign up for this class. Botanical Painting I and Botanical Painting II contain separate methods and can be taken independently.
ANIMAL DRAWING I: Approaches to Drawing
Tuesday Afternoons from 2-5 PM Est
Fall Session 1 - September 2024
In Animal Drawing I, students will learn various strategies to translate what they see onto paper accurately and explore the subtlety and depth of charcoal and graphite. Through demonstrations, lectures, and individualized feedback, Elody will cover gestural techniques exploring motion, posture, and proportion, the skeletal structures of vertebrate animals, and refined drawing methods to capture the surface textures found in the animal kingdom. Elody will teach additive and subtractive drawing techniques, and working quickly versus building up a longer drawing up over time. Additionally, students will learn about drawing from life versus photographic references, methods of translating what you see onto a two-dimensional surface, and how to capture facial expressions in an animal portrait. For an optional final project, we will explore strategies for integrating animals into invented scenes with other animals, humans, or landscapes using light to unify the composition. Throughout the class we will look historical art depicting animals from ancient, medieval and renaissance periods.
Tuesday Afternoons from 2-5 PM Est
Fall Session II 2024
In Animal Drawing II, students will explore white and black charcoal on toned paper, ink, watercolor, and mixed-media layering. The class will build upon the gesture drawing and drawing strategies learned in Animal Drawing 1, focusing primarily on techniques for other drawing media and exploring the various surface textures and expressions found in the animal kingdom. We will also look at various artists' approaches to depicting animals throughout art history, focusing on pre-modern, modern, and contemporary artists.
(Animal Drawing I is not required to take Animal Drawing II.)
Seeing the Light: An artists’ guide to the science of color
online weekend workshop Dates TBD
This weekend workshop will be a deep dive into advanced color theory for artists who want to know not just how color behaves in our world, but why.
Why is the sky blue? Learn how to mix the right kind of blues for different sky tones. Why is evening sunlight golden? Learn how to paint the golden light that bathes the landscape just before dusk. Why does the green of a leaf change if the sunlight is shining through from behind instead of reflecting off the top of the leaf? Learn how to create that sense of glowing with paint. We will go over each of these phenomena, and each why will lead to a how that empowers us to depict the natural world in all of its vitality and luminosity. Each core concept will begin with a lecture and discussion and then turn toward practical application of the concept. Using demonstrations and small color studies to illustrate each concept, participants will come away with a new perspective on color observation, application, and invention. This workshop is open to any medium with a full-color range including oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolors, and pastels.
Landscapes & Light: Painting the Effects of Nature Workshop Series:
This is a 4 workshop series that can be taken all together or individually. Below are descriptions of each individual workshop on a different aspect of landscape painting, focusing on the effects of color and light.
Online weekend workshop | Dates TBD
We are innately drawn to moving water - how it sounds, how it looks, the shift in humidity and smell in the air as we approach. There is magic and poetry in being near babbling brooks, rippling streams, lapping waves, or crashing waterfalls. In this workshop we will break down the process of painting scenes with moving water. To do this, we will think about water in layers. Is there light that passes through the water, illuminating the ground surface underneath? Does the water itself have a color? Are there areas of turbulent water filled with trapped air bubbles creating “white water”? What colors are reflecting off of the surface of the water, and where do those colors come from? How do those colors shift as they appear on the surface of the water? Most importantly, how do we capture all of those effects while also simplifying and abstracting as we go. In this workshop we will look at how other artists have tackled these problems, discuss the ways that light and water interact, paint a few small color studies to practice applying the concepts we have learned, and work on a longer painting from a reference of your choosing that prominently features water. Workshop open to beginner to advanced painters working in any full-color media that can layer, such as oils and acrylics or any combination of watercolors, gouache, and pastels. All demonstrations will be done in oil paints. This workshop is part two in a four-part series. Students can register for one, multiple, or all parts. Please email cs@nyaa.edu for registration questions.
Online weekend workshop | Dates TBD
Standing in a peaceful forest or communing with a majestic tree can be a breathtaking experience, but that kind of beauty is notoriously difficult to capture. As the adage goes, it is hard to “see the forest for the trees”. Forest scenes are complex and filled with numerous details and textures. In this workshop students will learn to distill the visual noise into an effective painting. During this weekend workshop, instructor Elody Gyekis will share her approach to painting trees and forests. Inspired by her lifelong love for the mountain forests of Pennsylvania, Gyekis has been painting landscapes with trees for decades. She has honed multiple forest painting strategies to share including creating an underpainting, what order to paint the various elements, and how to vary your color-mixing and mark-making. Workshop open to beginner to advanced painters working in any full-color media that can layer, such as oils and acrylics or any combination of watercolors, gouache, and pastels. All demonstrations will be done in oil paints. This workshop is part three in a four-part series. Students can register for one, multiple, or all parts. Please email cs@nyaa.edu for registration questions.
Online weekend workshop | Dates TBD
Skyscapes are an ever-changing and magical part of our landscapes. From mysterious, gentle fog to blue skies and puffy clouds, to the power of an oncoming storm, or the breathtaking beauty of an evening sunset – an ordinary scene can transform from one hour to the next. The choices an artist makes about the sky can influence the mood of a painting. While the sky is beautiful, it presents many challenges with its variety of color, textures, and light effects. In this workshop, we will discuss the basic science that influences our skyscapes: how our sunlight and atmosphere interact, why the sky is blue, and how the blues change in different conditions. We will briefly review cloud types and atmospheric layers as they relate to color mixing and strategies for painting skies. Finally, we will explore the reflected sky as it appears on open water, and how to make paintings with large reflection. The workshop will consist of lectures, discussion, small studies from provided references, and one larger skyscape painting from a reference of your choice. Workshop is open to beginner and advanced painters working in any full-color media that can layer, such as oils and acrylics or any combination of watercolors, gouache, and pastels. All demonstrations will be done in oil paints. This workshop is part one in a four-part series. Students can register for one, multiple, or all parts. Please email cs@nyaa.edu for registration questions.
Online weekend workshop | DATES TBD
This workshop is the culmination of a series of workshops and will be an opportunity to bring all of the concepts together. Each previous concept will be reviewed and thus this workshop can be also taken as a stand-alone experience. We will begin with an overview of how sunlight interacts with atmosphere to create blue skies, golden sunlight, and the shifting of colors of landscapes. Students will each choose a landscape reference to work from that has interesting light and layers of depth. Students focus on creating an underpainting that solidifies the compositional choices laid out in their compositional and color studies. The instructor will discuss how to adjust color mixing and paint application as students work through various areas of their landscape. The goal is to bring together everything we have learned to communicate the feeling of the weather, season, and time of day. The result being a beautiful landscape that use color, light, and depth to not just replicate a photograph but to improve upon it. Workshop open to beginner to advanced painters working in any full-color media that can layer, such as oils and acrylics or any combination of watercolors, gouache, and pastels. All demonstrations will be done in oil paints. This workshop is part four in a four-part series. Students can register for one, multiple, or all parts. Please email cs@nyaa.edu for registration questions.
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